Sonic Adventure: The Temple of the Emerald
by ZachaRicO
Summary: A month after getting teleported to a strange new world, Sonic finds himself once again confronting his archenemy, along with a mysterious, powerful being bent on destruction! It soon becomes clear to Sonic and his friends that their only hope of defeating Chaos is the Prince of the Sea. Sonic Adventure Crossover with Pokemon Movie 9.
1. Chapter 1

**What's up, everybody? So one of the reviews for my Sonic Adventure 2 Pokemon Crossover asked me to do a "prequel" for Sonic Adventure. Lo and behold, a semi-prequel! (meaning that even though I'm writing this story after SA2, this game was released before it.**

**So the basic idea here is, instead of just throwing Pokemon characters into a Sonic story, I decided to cross a Pokemon story over with a Sonic story. The Pokemon story I decided to use is the ninth Pokemon movie: Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. If you know the story of Sonic Adventure and have read my other two Sonic-Pokemon stories, I think you can see why I chose that of all movies.**

**Also, I know I still haven't finished "Shadow and the Master of Distortion." Don't worry. I will finish that, but I just got tired of waiting to get this started.**

**In case it's not obvious, I don't own Pokemon or Sonic.**

**Okay, that's all. Read away!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Grounded Zero

A small mountain stood over the small but homely region known as Kanto. It was small enough that it could be easily hiked, but tall enough to see for miles from its peak. Many hikers and other travelers could be found trekking this landmark, whether they did it for the thrill of hiking or to get from one town to the next, Mt. Moon was easily one of the most visited places in Kanto.

One night, however, there was not a soul to be found on this mountain, save one. The stars shone in full brilliance, artificial light doing nothing to blot them out, while a man held himself tightly with his coat, trying to keep warm. He didn't hold himself long, as he needed to work with his hands. He whipped out a tripod, on top of which he situated a telescope. When he did this, he peered into it, scanning the sky.

"So it is true,The stars have changed, though whether or not they've been like this for a month, I can't tell. But why? What could it mean?

His train of thought was interrupted by a shadow obscuring the telescope's view. Raising an eyebrow, he backed away with his telescope while looking out and gasped: a massive plot of land was floating in the sky!

"Now here's a wonder!" he breathed in amazement. "It's like...an island of the angels!"

* * *

The floating island the starwatcher saw was floating somewhere above Cinnabar Island. It was a peaceful island, inhabited by a number of friendly creatures, though in the past month they had become scarce. Of course, no creature of human intelligence had verified this, as no such creature lived on the island, save the guardian of the island's treasure.

The population of this island is of no consequence right now, as a large battleship was at this point in time ascending from below the island, slowly making its way up until it hovered above the island.

Controlling the battleship from within was a portly man with a large, brown mustache. His legs looked poorly fit to support his egg-shaped torso, yet they somehow managed. That made no difference at that moment, as the man was sitting.

"There it is," he sneered as the island came into view, "The Temple of the Emerald." The temple he spoke of was the most prominent structure on the island, standing well over the rest and easily seen from any point on the island. "Beta!" the man turned towards his robot companion, "You know what you need to do. Destroy the Master Emerald, and bring me that precious stone."

"Yes, Doctor," Beta replied, and he started out. dropping down through a hatch and flying towards the island.

* * *

Inside the temple, right beside a large green emerald, a red creature leaned himself back, relaxed and asleep. He was an echidna, the last of his kind, with somewhat large spiked fists and a white, crescent moon on his chest. He smiled in his sleep, unaware of the threat that dropped down into the room.

Beta eyed the emerald lifelessly, aimed his blaster at it, and fired. The result the robot desired was just what it got: the emerald shattered, rocking the whole island and jolting the echidna awake.

"What the devil?! he shouted in shock, looking around in confusion to see who had caused all the trouble. When he saw the Master Emerald in pieces, he was furious. "Who did this?!"

His answer came when a small puddle that had formed where he had been sleeping started moving. He eyed it, puzzled.

I didn't drink before I went to sleep, did I?" he wondered aloud.

His rather crude question was answered when the "puddle" materialized into a humanoid, liquid creature. It had green eyes, and its brain could be seen through its head, made of clear liquid.

"I thought so," he growled. "What are you supposed to be, huh? And why did you go and do that to my emerald?!"

The mysterious creature didn't respond, but simply turned around and started toward where the Master Emerald had been before it shattered.

"HEY!" the echidna shouted angrily. "I asked you a question! Answer me!"

The liquid creature still didn't respond, as it leaned down and grabbed something from within the stand the emerald once sat on.

"What are you doing?" the guardian growled.

The creature turned around, holding an egg-like stone that was as clear as the unpolluted sea. A red "yolk" sat inside as well.

"What?" The echidna gasped. "Is that –?!"

The creature started to walk away, carrying the egg, but the echidna wasn't down for that.

"Oh no you don't!" he shouted, charging the creature. He slammed right into it, but he took the brunt of the hit, as the creature seemed relatively unfazed. When he got back up, he looked around furiously to find it, but to his chagrin, it, along with the egg, had disappeared.

"Great, just great," he grumbled. His annoyance was cut short when a sudden lurch knocked him off balance. "Oh no!"

* * *

The starwatcher jotted down notes as he observed the island, trying to figure out just what could be the cause of such a marvel. He had finished half a page when he noticed something was off about the island:

"Is it...falling?" His eyes widened. "Why could that be?"

* * *

"UGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" the red echidna screamed as the island fell, trying desperately to stay still so he didn't thrash about. The falling sensation was unbearable.

Then, with another lurch, it stopped, throwing the echidna up and onto the island's surface. Anxious, he leapt to his feet and rushed to the edge of the island to inspect the damage.

"Oh, thank goodness," he sighed with relief. "Just another few inches, and this would be under the water." He looked up, concerned. "But now I need to find the pieces of the Master Emerald!"

* * *

A short distance from where the island crashed was the small, seaside port of Vermillion City. Though small, it attracted a lot of visitors simply because once a year it was home to the most famous ship in Kanto, the S.S. Anne. However, a mere 24 hours after the floating island fell from the sky, there was no S.S. Anne to be seen, much less anything really noteworthy.

That being said, this left little fun for a certain blue hedgehog as he ran through the city at the speed of sound, trying to beat his boredom. Needless to say, he was never disappointed by his efforts.

As he jumped from building to building, he started to notice a slight commotion not far from where he was. His eyes widened with worry, and he quickly concealed himself, thinking the police may have noticed him. After a moment, he glanced back out and saw they were gone.

"Well, at least they're not after me," he shrugged, dashing cautiously behind them. He and his friends had been avoiding the sight of the public since they'd been teleported to this world one month ago by their enemy's lunacy.

"Freeze, monster!"

He jumped back into hiding on hearing that, thinking he'd been spotted, and glanced out, only to sigh with relief that the police were once again after something else. But what?

He ventured another glance and discovered what it was: a humanoid, liquid creature.

"Well," he smirked, "things just got interesting!"

It quickly became obvious that the police could do nothing against the mysterious creature. Worse, the creature was causing them a lot of trouble, even hurting some of them.

"Okay, that's not cool!" the blue hedgehog snapped, jumping out in front of the strange creature. "What's the big idea?! You got a problem, Drippy?"

The creature said nothing, but, just as the hedgehog predicted, the people around them began murmuring in excitement. He could hear some of the stuff they said:

"What is that?"

"A new species?"

"Where do you think it's from?"

"How does it talk?"

Ignoring them, he jumped up, curled into a ball, and slammed into the creature's head, knocking it back. It stood back up, glared at him a moment, then melted into a puddle and slipped down into a drain.

"Hey! Where do ya think you're going, Big Drip?" he taunted it, but he got no response. When he looked up, however, he noticed it had left something behind: an egg-shaped stone with a red "yolk." "Hm," he mused. "This might give us some information. I better go find –"

"Hold it!"

He turned and saw the police gathering around him now.

"Oh, great," he groaned. "Hey, look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got some business to take care of!" With that, he leapt up on top of a building, but the police called out again:

"What are you?!"

He turned and looked back at them, smiled, and gave them a thumbs-up. "I'm Sonic: Sonic the Hedgehog!" And he disappeared.

* * *

**Well, whadaya think? Feel free to rate and review! (but no flames, please)  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Man, I am so sorry it's taken so long to update this story. I've been mainly focusing on Shadow and the Master of Distortion, but since it's been a month now since I updated this...yup.**

**In any case, in response to a question from UncontrolledChaos27, ****if you watch the movie and/or play the game, the best it will do is shed some light on the events of this story,** but it's not necessary to understand this story, although the ninth Pokemon movie's a good watch if you ask me. I've only seen three other Pokemon movies (don't judge me!) and I like it better than the lot of them.  


**All right, that's enough of that. Let's go!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Rock Tunnel

The next day, Sonic sat by the beach, looking at the stone he had recovered from that liquid creature. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but for some reason he thought the red "yolk" of the stone was glowing, albeit slightly.

"What was this doing with that creep?" he wondered. "Heck, what is it, anyway? Hm...maybe –"

"Look out belowwwwwwwww!"

He jolted up just in time to see an all-too-familiar airplane careen into the ground a short distance away. "Oh no!" he gasped. "Tails!"

* * *

At the plane wreck, a two-tailed fox was somewhat fazed, though not hurt severely. "Whew! I guess I forgot to carry the 1! Oh well. I knew this would take a while."

"Tails!"

The fox perked up at the familiar voice mentioning his name. "Sonic!"

"Hey, buddy! You all right?" the blue hedgehog asked with concern as he skidded to a halt.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tails replied, dusting himself off a little more. "I was just testing out my new plane."

"Testing it out?"

"Yeah. It's powered by a Chaos Emerald, so it takes some getting used to, but it's nothing we can't handle."

Sonic chuckled. "Thank goodness. I knew you weren't one to just spin out like that, so I thought it had something to do with Eggman."

"Nope. We're just fine!"

"Right," he nodded. "Say, Tails, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Yeah, what's that?"

Sonic showed him the egg the liquid creature dropped. "Whoa!" Tails exclaimed. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Sonic admitted. "I was hoping you could figure it out."

"Hm…" Tails muttered. "I know! Let's go to my workshop at the ruins on top of Rock Tunnel! There's some stuff there I wanted to show you anyway."

"All right!" Sonic nodded. They started out, keeping themselves hidden from sight. "So, how have you been holding up this past month?"

"I've been all right," his friend replied. "No serious run-ins with the locals."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I didn't have anything serious until last night when I found that egg."

"Hm," Tails mused. "Was there a crowd?"

"A small one. Hopefully nothing serious."

Tails nodded. "I sure hope we can get back home soon."

"No kidding."

* * *

Rock Tunnel was an underground passage connecting the northern areas of Kanto to the eastern areas, though only the bravest – or stupidest – of travelers dared to trek it. Most, however, settled for climbing the mountain over the tunnel, which was just as difficult, but the sights to see made it all worthwhile. Right now, however, was probably the worst time to be taking such a hike, as the sun blazed in the sky, sending temperatures soaring into the 90s. For that reason, there was nobody to be found out here.

Or rather, that was what any onlookers thought. In reality, there were a few people out there: four, to be exact. They were all younger than the average hiker who trekked these mountains, but that was no hindrance. Compared to the adventures they'd shared together, trekking a mountain in 90o weather was nothing.

Unfortunately, their stamina was slowly fading, as their supplies were running low. Though they still pressed on, that didn't stop them from complaining.

"Ugh," the youngest of the group moaned. "So...thirsty." He had a green polo on, along with brown shorts and a pair of glasses over his brown eyes. His cerulean hair was sopping wet from sweating so much.

"Hang in there, Max," his older sister sighed. "We should be there soon." Her brown hair sagged at the sides of her head, tangled up in sweat.

"If we could reach a town," the oldest sighed, "we could get ourselves cleaned up."

"I don't think a town is close enough," Max mumbled. "And I can't check."

"Why not?" his sister asked.

He pulled out what appeared to be a cell phone. "My batteries are dead."

"Oh, that's even better," his sister groaned. "We're lost, thirsty, and we don't even know if we're close to civilization." She shaped her hands like a camera and started talking like she was on reality television. "This week, on May's Expeditions, we find our heroes hopelessly lost, unsure of where to go next. Will they find their way? Find out, on May's Expeditions: Saturday, 9 AM!"

"You never give up, do you, May?" Max sighed.

"Nope."

"Well, you might as well cancel the broadcast if we can't find a drip of water to drink," Max teased. "Brock, how much have we got left?"

Brock pulled out their last canteen somberly. "None."

"What?!" May cried.

"Ohhhh noooo," Max whined. "Now we're in for it."

"Relax," Brock shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find water soon. This isn't a desert after all."

"No, but it's the next worst thing," Max grumbled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid we'll have to cancel this week's episode of May's Expeditions, as our heroes seem to be in serious trouble," May groaned.

"THANK. GOODNESS," Max said flatly.

"If I had the strength, I'd swat you, Max," May growled softly.

"I know," Max snickered.

"You two should really give it a break," Brock grumbled. "Of all the times to get into a fight, this is the worst."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Max nodded.

"It would only make things worse," May agreed.

"Hey, guys!"

The three of them started on hearing the familiar, gravelly voice.

"Over here!"

They turned and saw their fourth member coming towards them, waving. He wore a blue hoodie over a brown t-shirt, blue jeans, black and green fingerless gloves, and a red hat that contained the wild mess that was his raven-black hair. A yellow rodent-like creature sat on his shoulder, waving with just as much enthusiasm.

May blinked. "Ash?"

"Hey, why does he look like he just ate?" Max complained.

"How did he get away without us noticing?" Brock muttered. "I guess there are some things I'll never understand."

The raven-haired boy finally reached them and stopped, panting slightly.

"Ash, what's going on?" Max asked.

"Did you find something?" May asked.

"I found water!" he exclaimed as he turned to run again. "Come on. Follow me!"

"_Pi-Pikachu!_" his yellow companion, Pikachu, exclaimed likewise. The other three, shrugging, followed him as fast as they could. When he stopped, he was next to a small pond that held enough water for them all to drink with plenty left over.

"Oh, man," Max exclaimed. "Awesome!"

"Thank goodness!" Brock breathed a sigh of relief, washing his face. "You're a real lifesaver, Ash."

"Eh, it was really nothing," Ash shrugged. "Pikachu and I kinda got sidetracked by something, then Pikachu caught this scent, and the next thing you know we found this!" He chuckled. "You should really be thanking Pikachu."

"_Pika!_" Pikachu glared at him, pulling the brim of his hat over his face. Ash pulled it back up, laughing.

"But, if you insist, I'll take some of the credit!"

Everyone laughed with him as they slaked their thirst, finally getting some long-needed hydration.

"Gee, this place sure looks cool," Max smiled, wandering around.

"It looks abandoned to me," May mused. "Ancient ruins?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded. "I wonder what's in there..."

"I suppose a little exploration wouldn't hurt," Brock shrugged.

"Then come on!" Ash cheered stepping forward. "What are we waiting for?"

"Wait!" May suddenly pulled him back.

"Hey, what gives?!" he snapped, but she covered his mouth quickly. They were silent a moment, and they heard voices.

"Huh?" Max wondered aloud.

"Hm," Ash mused, pulling May's hand from his mouth. "Why do I get the feeling someone was here before us? We should make ourselves scarce."

"All right," Brock shrugged. They stepped behind a wall and listened intently to what happened next.

* * *

"Here it is," Tails motioned as they came to some ruins.

"All right, then," Sonic muttered sarcastically. "So where's your workshop?"

"Right here!" With that, he pressed a button, and the ground around them started to shake as a small but impressive structure rose from the ground. It was rather messy, but no less impressive for it.

"You built this in a month?" Sonic chuckled.

"Yup!"

Sonic had to smile. "You never cease to surprise me, buddy."

They walked in, and Sonic looked around, becoming ever more impressed that Tails managed to not only build this in a month, but he developed a convenient camouflage to hide it from prying eyes.

"So, how do you think we can work with this egg?" he asked.

"Hm," Tails muttered. "Well, I have this matter-detector that can identify what kind of matter something is. Maybe it can help us."

"Right," Sonic rolled his eyes. "We know it's a solid, problem solved. What else is new?"

"Just hang on, Sonic," Tails stopped him, taking the egg and placing it under the detector. "All right," he nodded. "I'll just fire up the laser and…"

A small trinket that pointed down at the egg fired a small, red beam at it. Instantly, a screen to its right lit up, displaying data.

"Oh, wow," Tails' eyes widened.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"There are multiple kinds of matter in here," he whispered. "It's not just a solid!"

"Wait...what do you –?"

He was abruptly cut off when the red "yolk" of the egg started glowing brightly, catching them both off-guard.

"What's happening?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"Hold on!" Tails picked up the egg. The red aura touched his chest, then proceeded to touch Sonic's, and two sparks flowed from where the aura made contact with them, then settled, their trails forming a perfect circle. Then the glow faded.

"Whoa," Sonic muttered. "That was really weird."

"Yeah, no – whathe –?!" Tails suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Sonic asked looking up at...Sonic?! "Hey, wait a sec! What am I doing there?!"

"Never mind that!" "Sonic" said, but it was Tails' voice! "What am _I_ doing _there_?!"

Sonic looked down at his body and, to his shock, he saw he was no longer blue, but orange! His chest, usually bare skin, was now covered in white fur.

"What just happened?!" Sonic asked from Tails' body.

"We've switched bodies!" Tails exclaimed from Sonic's body.

"Well that much is obvious!" Sonic snapped. "But how did it happen?"

"That egg," Tails muttered. "There's no other explanation." He glared at Sonic. "Where exactly did you get that?!"

"Uh…"

The ground suddenly lurched, knocking them down. "What was that?!"

"Oh no!"

They dashed out and, no surprise to them, found a man in a floating pod.

"Oh, great," Sonic grumbled.

* * *

"Well, that didn't feel good," Ash grumbled, getting to his feet. The lurch had knocked his friends onto their backs as well, but they quickly resumed watching what unfolded.

"Who is that?" Max wondered aloud.

"Looks like a giant talking egg to me," Brock muttered.

"_Pika_," Pikachu mused.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: True Blue

"Top of the afternoon to you, you little pests," Dr. Eggman sneered. "I've been looking for you all over. You have something that I want."

"What?" Sonic snapped. "The Chaos Emeralds?"

Eggman almost fell out of his pod laughing. "Holy shoot, that was incredible!" he chortled. "I had no idea Tails could do such a good impression of Sonic!"

"It's not what it looks like," Tails growled, but that only made Eggman laugh harder.

"It seems you've switched bodies!" Eggman sneered once he got a hold of himself. "This will only make my work all the easier! Come on out, Chaos!"

"Huh?" Sonic and Tails looked around, puzzled. Then they saw a puddle of water move towards them and materialize into a humanoid liquid creature.

Sonic gasped. "You again!"

"This is Chaos," Eggman sneered, "a being composed of liquid Chaos energy. He grows stronger when I feed him Chaos Emeralds, and I know you have one somewhere around here. Of course, while I tear this place apart to find it, I'll let you get acquainted with my new friend!" With that, he dropped an emerald down to Chaos, who gratefully devoured it and subsequently changed form. He looked stronger now.

"This should be no problem," Sonic smirked, curling up...and tripping over his tails. "Aw, great! Just when I mastered the homing attack technique!"

"I got this!" Tails told him, shaking his butt at Chaos. Chaos just stood there and sweatdropped.

"Uh, Tails?" Sonic looked at his friend awkwardly, "What...are you doing?"

"Drat! I forgot," Tails looked sheepish, putting a hand behind his head to scratch, but he wound up poking himself instead. "Ow!"

"I sure hope we can find a way to reverse this," Sonic grumbled. Chaos snatched both of them in his liquid grip, holding them up a good three feet above the ground. "Let's just get through this first!"

"Got any ideas?" Tails asked.

"I'm stumped!" Sonic replied.

"Oh, no," Tails groaned. "What are we gonna do?"

"This is bad," Sonic shuddered.

The water holding them high began to slowly consume them, so that soon the only part of them that wasn't wet was their heads.

"You see?" Eggman sneered. "You're no match for Chaos!"

"No!" Sonic struggled. "We're just not in tip-top shape!"

"And now this golden opportunity will reap me excellent profits!" Eggman chortled. "Chaos! Finish them off!"

"Oh, no," Sonic muttered as the water crawled around him.

"Very, very bad," Tails shuddered.

The water now had only to consume their faces. "Tails! Hold your breath!" They squeezed their eyes shut. _It won't be long now!_

"Three…" Eggman's grin was wider than ever, as victory was already in reach! "TWO…"

"PIKACHU! USE THUNDERBOLT!"

The next thing everyone knew, a huge bolt of electricity erupted from seemingly nowhere and struck Chaos, coursing through his body and forcing him to let go of Sonic and Tails.

Sonic and Tails, stunned, opened their eyes. "What?!"

"What the devil was that?!" Eggman roared in fury, but he was knocked over by a sudden weight slamming into him. When he looked up, he saw a huge, fiery, bird-like creature standing over him, a menacing gaze in its eyes.

"Now, Blaziken!" another voice came. "Use Blaze Kick!"

The creature's foot started blazing with fire and then, with one swift move, fried Eggman and knocked him into the sky.

"What was that?!" Tails exclaimed.

"Urgh!" Eggman snarled when he landed. "Chaos! Get them!"

Chaos, coming to from the electrocution, jumped up and rushed them, but a large, plump, duck-like creature stood in front of them.

"Ludicolo!" a third voice called. "Use Protect!"

The plump creature held up its palms, and Chaos was thrown back when he ran into it.

"Guh! Pull back!" Eggman snapped. "I already got what I came for!" With that, he and Chaos dashed away, Chaos holding onto the ship. "No! Don't drag me down, you fool!"

"Whew!" Sonic huffed, dusting himself off. "That was a close one."

"I'll say," Tails nodded. "We need to be more careful."

"Hey, are you two all right?"

They turned and saw four locals standing over them. "I think so," Sonic replied, still in Tails' body.

"Who was that mustachioed freak?" the smallest of the bunch wondered aloud.

"You mean the giant talking egg?" another one with a yellow rodent on his shoulder asked.

"Yeah, who was that?"

"That was Dr. Robotnik," Sonic explained, "or, as we like to call him, Eggman."

"But who is he?" the girl asked.

"A mad scien–" Tails started, but Sonic quickly stopped him.

"I think we should solve a certain problem with our personal hygiene before we take this any further. Whataya say?"

Tails looked down at Sonic's body and agreed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, we don't even know who these locals are. They might spill the beans about us!"

"Right! Let's get inside!" With that, the two dashed into Tails' workshop, leaving four confused humans and a confused Pokemon in the dust.

"'Spill the beans?'" Ash wondered aloud. "What, that they're rare Pokemon or something? What would we say about them?"

"They seem to be outgoing," May muttered. "Even friendly. I bet if we made friends with them they wouldn't run away like that."

"I think you're right, May," Brock agreed. "But before we go any farther, we should figure out what's going on with them."

"_Pika!_" Pikachu agreed.

* * *

"Well, I guess that worked," Sonic, now back in his own body, shrugged.

"Just waiting it out, of course," Tails groaned. "I hate those kind of effects."

"Now, what about those locals hanging outside?"

"I don't know if we can trust them."

"Tails," Sonic reminded him, "they saved our lives."

Tails thought this over a moment, and then nodded. "That's true. I guess we can give them a shot, but if they spill any information –"

"Yeah, no worries," Sonic cracked his knuckles. "They won't get away with that."

* * *

Ash sat outside the workshop, twirling a Pokeball in his hand. Brock, Max, May, and Pikachu were playing a short distance away. Normally he'd join them, but today he felt like resting instead.

"I only have two symbols left to obtain to finish off the Battle Frontier," he mused. "That'll be swell, but then what?" He looked up at his friends, an uneasy look on his face. "By that time, May will probably have finished her Grand Festival. There'll be nothing left for us here." He sighed. "That will be the end of this adventure, which probably means everyone will go home for a visit. But then what happens after that? It'll just be me and Pikachu again…"

He smiled as he watched his best friend jump around, trying to catch a frisbee, while Max caught it, then quickly tossed it to May, who tossed it back to him, then he handed it off to Brock. Just as he caught it, Pikachu had the frisbee.

Ash rolled his eyes. "I'm never gonna figure that one out," he chuckled, adjusting his position. As he did so, he felt something in his pocket poke him. Curious, he pulled it out and found a ribbon: well, half of one. It was pink with white edges, and a half-medal that resembled the sun adorned it.

He sighed once again, pulling the brim of his hat over his face somberly. "Hopefully I can meet up with Brock again, and we can travel together. I have yet to have an adventure without him," he chuckled. "I don't know about May and Max, though. Max might go home after this, but what about May? Will she travel with us again? Will she want to?" Immediately after thinking this, he slapped himself. "Ash, you idiot! What kind of a stupid question is that?!"

"Whoa! Where did this come from?"

Ash looked up and saw a blue hedgehog standing right beside him, a frisbee in hand. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, I just saw your friends over there tossing this frisbee back and forth. First she had it, then lil' greeny had it, then she had it again, and the next thing I know, it's in my hands!"

Ash leaned back and laughed. "It's all right. I don't get it either." The blue hedgehog chuckled with him, tossing the frisbee away. "By the way, I don't think we ever introduced ourselves."

"Well, what are you waiting for, Baseball Head?" the hedgehog smirked. "What's your name? Tails and I are dying to know."

Ash looked surprised. "Baseball Head?" he repeated.

"Your hat."

He looked up and shrugged. "Deal with it.

"Anyways, my name's Ash."

The blue hedgehog smiled. "Nice to meet you, Ash. My name is Sonic: Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Nice to meet you, too!" Ash returned the smile.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Sonic shrugged, sitting down next to his new friend, "what are you doing over here?"

"We were trying to get to another town," Ash explained, "and we stumbled on this little oasis, so we figured we'd get a little rest...and water."

"Okay, that makes sense. You didn't know about Tails' workshop?"

"No, we didn't."

Sonic nodded. "So, out of curiosity, why did you do what you did back there?"

"Huh?"

"You know, against Eggman."

"Oh, you mean the giant talking egg?"

Sonic chuckled. _I can tell Ash and I are going to get along just fine._ "Yeah, him."

"Well, I saw he was trying to kill you guys, so I couldn't just let him do that."

"Okay...why else?"

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but in the end he just grinned, "Do you always need a reason to help someone?"

Sonic grinned likewise. "No. No, you don't." _Yep. We're going to get along just fine._ "So, why aren't you with your friends?"

Ash shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I just want to kick back a while, rest, and maybe think. This is just one of those times, I guess."

"Think? Ash, think? That's a novelty!"

The two new friends glanced up and saw Max standing over them. "Max?" Ash raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing over here?"

"I came to get the frisbee," Max pointed at Ash's head. He looked up, felt his head, and found the frisbee resting on there.

"Good grief," Ash rolled his eyes. "I thought it was going to land in May's hands."

"Nope!" Max chuckled as he skipped off to continue the game.

"Is that frisbee magic or something?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"Nah. It's just trippy."

"You can say that again." They chuckled.

"So, um, Sonic, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Er…" Ash stuttered, unsure of how to phrase his question, "Where exactly do you come from?"

On hearing this, Sonic shifted uneasily. _Should I tell him? He seems trustworthy, and he did save us, but still…_

"Well," he shrugged, nervous, "it's a long story."

"Mine's a long one, too," Ash shrugged, "although probably not as long as yours."

"Right," Sonic shrugged, still a little tense. "Well, then…"

He trailed off, worried that this might affect his other friends. He could already tell that he and Ash thought very much alike, but that didn't mean he could be trusted to keep a secret.

"Would you rather not tell me?" Ash raised an eyebrow, continuing before he even got an answer, "That's fine. Your friend didn't seem to trust us earlier, and we've only just met, so I can't really blame you."

Sonic breathed in relief. "I can appreciate that. Y'know, hearing you say that makes me think I can trust you."

"Well, it's the right thing to do," Ash shrugged, an innocent grin on his face. "Seriously, though, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Well I would," Sonic shrugged, "but I have friends who might not take so kindly to it."

"I see."

A sudden clattering from inside the workshop jolted them back to the present moment. After that, they heard a thumping noise growing louder and louder until the door swung open, revealing an irate Tails.

"What the heck was that all about?!" he glared at Ash.

"What?"

Tails scowled and held out a frisbee.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Dreams and Disasters

May stretched, muttering something under her breath. It had been a few hours since she and her friends had stumbled upon Tails' workshop, and dusk was slowly waning into night. Everyone had settled down after Brock served dinner: delicious as always, especially to Sonic and Tails. After that, Brock decided they should set up camp. While the boys worked on that, she stood to the side, fidgeting in boredom.

With a sigh, she stood up and walked into Tails' workshop, as the two-tailed fox was occupied with setting up the tent at the moment. What she found in there was mostly foreign to her, though she had no clue how. Eventually, her eyes came to rest on the small, egg-like stone that Tails and Sonic were studying earlier before Eggman interrupted. The red "yolk" was still glowing, albeit faintly. Curious, she picked it up carefully, not noticing her heart beating slightly faster.

"Hey! Put that down!"

May gasped on hearing the voice and hastily replaced the stone, turning to see Tails standing in the doorway. He didn't look too pleased. "I'm sorry, I was only looking, I swear! Nothing was harmed –"

"It's fine, don't worry," Tails shrugged. "It's just that this egg is fragile. I don't want to see it break."

May looked perplexed. "Wait...are you saying that it really is an egg?"

"Yes, it is. I'm not sure what's inside, but I know it's native to this world."

"A Pokemon?"

"Sonic brought it to me to study; oddly enough, the yolk glowed and switched our bodies around."

"That's strange."

"Yeah. But that's beside the point. Right now, I'm keeping this safe for research...until it hatches, that is. Hm...I still need to figure out where Sonic got that from."

* * *

_She opened her eyes, confused. The sun was low in the sky as she glanced around. A temple stood before her, ominously towering. Caution told her to hang back, but a strange force moved her forward. She walked into the temple and saw a number of tiny creatures playing around a glowing green emerald. One of them jumped onto her shoulder and chirped happily as though asking her to join the fun. Grinning a childlike grin, she obliged and danced around with them._

_"Who are you?"_

_She stopped on hearing the voice, turning towards a humanoid creature who stood with the little creatures. "Who are you?"_

_She wanted to speak, but her mouth stayed silent. The creature was carrying another small creature, slightly bigger than the others yet still resembling them. The small creature jumped into her arms, giggling. She couldn't help but smile._

_The creature before her gasped. "You," she breathed, "you must be…"_

_"Huh?"_

_The creature suddenly stepped forward, holding her hands and gazing intently into her eyes. "Take care of him. He's the only one who can stop the chaos."_

_"Wait," she started, "what are you talking about?"_

_A sudden explosion rocked the temple, causing her to duck as a deafening roar shook the room. The creature just shook her head and ran, the adorable creatures following her. "Wait!" she called after her. "Stop!"_

* * *

"Don't go!"

Silence. She blinked.

"Huh?"

More silence. She glanced around, puzzled.

"Er…"

"May?"

She glanced up at her brother as he looked at her, concern lining his eyes. "What's wrong?"

She exhaled, slightly relieved but slightly torn. "Nothing, Max...it was just a dream." _So why did it feel so...real?_

* * *

May sat by the small oasis, her heart in a small turmoil. The dream she had the night before was troubling her as she racked her brains to figure out what it meant. It felt so real...how could it not mean something?

"Hey, May."

She glanced up and saw her best friend standing over her. "Oh, hey Ash! What's up?"

"Eh, not much," he shrugged, sitting down next to her. "I was just bored."

"Bored?" she looked at him, perplexed. "Why aren't you training?"

"Well, Brock's busy making lunch, and you're over here by yourself. I prefer to train with other people."

"Oh," May rolled her eyes. "You want me to train with you, don't you."

"Nah. I figured you wouldn't be up for it. It's hard to focus on training when there's something else weighing on your mind."

May's looked at him, surprised. "What are you talking about? I'm just fine." He just continued to look at her, gaze unwavering. "Really. What makes you think I'm having a hard time?"

"Oh, I don't know," he shrugged sarcastically. "Maybe it's the simple fact that we actually had LEFTOVERS from breakfast?!"

"Pfft. Not my fault. I ate my fair share."

"If that were the case, we'd have nothing left, because I ate my fair share, too. Max even commented on how fast an eater I was. For crying out loud, I had Pikachu lick the syrup off my plate when I was done! Yet we have leftovers, which means someone isn't eating their fair share! And did I mention that your plate was the only one with food that we stuffed away for –"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" she snapped, irritated that he figured her out. "I didn't eat much this morning. I just wasn't hungry, that's all."

"You're always hungry."

"You wanna make something of it?!" she shouted, now thoroughly angry. Ash backed away, shocked by her sudden outburst. She gasped, realizing what she just did. "Ash, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell like that. It's just…"

He slowly moved back towards her. "What?"

She sighed. "You're right. I am having a hard time right now. I just wish sometimes that you couldn't read me like that."

"I'm sorry," he shrugged. "I probably shouldn't have been prying like that."

"No, it's okay," she assured him. "You were just trying to be a good friend."

He smiled warmly at her. "So, what's up?"

She sighed. "I had a dream last night, and I don't know what it means."

Ash chuckled. "That's all? Just a dream? I have dreams all the time."

"See, that's the thing," she went on. "I have dreams all the time, too. Usually, I wake up and shrug it off for the most part, though it might stick with me for a little while. But this...this is different. I've never had a dream that felt so...real."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You sure this won't go away in the next few days or so? That's how long it usually takes for a dream to lose its effect on me."

"Same here," she nodded. "But yes, I'm sure there's something more to this dream than meets the eye."

"Guys!"

They started, shooting up at the sound of the voice. "What is it?"

"The egg!" Tails exclaimed. "It's gone!"

"What?!" May exclaimed. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Someone must have sneaked in last night and stolen it!"

The three of them quickly rushed back to the camp and saw Sonic standing there, also distraught. "What's going on, Sonic?" Ash asked.

"Eggman doesn't have it!"

"He doesn't?!" Tails exclaimed. "But who else would want it?"

"Looking for this, you twerps?"

Ash flinched on hearing that, gritting his teeth. "There's only three people I know who call me that," he growled, looking up.

"We should've known," May ground her teeth.

"Prepare for trouble from the skies!"

"From beyond the stars a nasty surprise!"

"An evil as old as the galaxy..."

"Sent here to fulfill our destiny."

"Plus dere's me!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"And Meowth are da' names!"

"Anywhere there's peace in the universe."

"Team Rocket..."

"...Will be dere..."

"To make everything worse!"

_"Wooobbuffet!"_

_"Chime Chiiiime!"_

"It's Team Rocket!"

"Oh, THERE'S a big surprise!" Meowth sneered from above. "I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and DIE from that surprise! Ha! You twerps shoulda made a better security system if ya wanted ta keep your treasure safe."

"Now we'll just take for ourselves, thank you very much," Jessie smirked.

"You put that down!" Tails snapped. "Don't you know what it is?! It's an egg! There's a living creature in there, and if you're not careful, you could kill it!"

"Tsk, tsk," Jessie wagged her finger at Tails. "There's always a price to pay for promotion."

"But is that a price we're willing to pay?" James glanced at her uncertainly.

"Of course it is, you dingbat! Now hurry up and drive this balloon out of here!"

"You're not going anywhere," Ash growled. "Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

"_Piiiiiiikaaaaa...CHUUUUUUUUUUU_!"

"Wobbuffet! Use Mirror Coat!"

Jessie's blue Pokemon leapt out of its Pokeball and obliged, sending the Thunderbolt attack straight back at Pikachu, knocking him into the ground.

"No!" Ash cried. "Pikachu…"

"_Pika_," Pikachu groaned weakly.

"Sorry, buddy."

"Okay, that does it!" Sonic growled. "You crooks won't get away with this!" With that, he leapt up.

"Sonic!?" everyone cried, stunned.

The blue blur landed in the balloon and grabbed for the egg, only to get thrown out. "Whoaaaaaaaa!" he cried.

Tails, thinking quickly, dashed under him and swiped his tails, sending him back into the sky. Sonic quietly thanked him and curled into a spinning ball of death that rammed into the trio, knocking the egg out of their grasp. Tails flew up and caught it while Sonic finished the job by rolling into the balloon itself, popping it.

"Oh come on!" Jessie roared in annoyance. "That balloon was brand new, and top-notch quality!"

"Is this a price worth paying for promotion?" James asked.

"If it was, then we'd be running the organization!" Meowth snapped.

"Yeah, that's true," James shrugged.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

_Ding._

"Is it okay, Tails?" May asked worriedly as the two-tailed fox flew back down.

"Yep," he nodded. "Phew! That was close."

"No kidding," Sonic agreed, then started. "Wait...where did Baseball Head go?"

"Who?" May asked, puzzled.

"Your friend."

"Hm...I don't –" she was cut off when a scent caught her nose. "Food!" she exclaimed, dashing over in the direction of the scent. Sonic and Tails looked at each other, shrugged, and followed her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Holy cow, did I take off on this chapter! Nearly 3,000 words in one sitting?! *Whistle* Well, in any case, I hope you're enjoying this story!**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Prince Awakens

"Ah, now that's the stuff," Ash smiled, downing a second bowl of ramen.

"This is really GOOD," Sonic exclaimed. "I haven't had food like this since we got here! It's all been wild berries and the like."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with berries," Max smirked.

"No, but after a while their taste gets stale."

"True."

Ash eyed May in concern. She had eaten one bowl of her favorite ramen quickly, but she'd only downed half of a second bowl. She seemed to be forcing it down, now. _Wow, that dream must have been really strong if it's having this kind of effect on her_ he marveled. _I've never seen her so reluctant to eat._

"Well, our plan seems to be coming along well," Tails suddenly spoke up. Everyone looked at him, curious. "Eggman's only been able to snatch two of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and we've got two more of them in stock."

"Chaos Emeralds?" Ash repeated, puzzled. "What's that?"

"A Chaos Emerald is a source of unlimited power," Sonic explained. "Eggman's always trying to get his hands on the seven of them. In fact, it's because of his latest attempt that we're here right now instead of back home."

"Where's home for you guys?" Brock asked.

Sonic and Tails looked at each other uncertainly. "Uh…"

"SONIC!"

Everyone started on hearing the angry voice. "What was that?" Max wondered.

"Ohh noo," Sonic groaned, standing up with Tails. "You guys stay here. We'll handle this." They rushed towards the workshop, leaving the four confused.

"I think we should follow them," Ash stated simply, standing up.

"Now how did I know you were gonna say that?" Max rolled his eyes.

"Hold on, Ash," Brock held out his hand to stop his friend. "I think we should wait this one out." Ash looked at him, frowning slightly, then nodded and sat down again.

* * *

"Well, well, well," Sonic folded his arms as he and Tails looked at a red echidna, fists balled in a fighting stance. "Look what the knuckleheads brought in."

"Cut it out, Sonic," the echidna growled. "I'm not playing games today."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"What do you want, Knuckles?" Tails piped.

Knuckles the Echidna glared at the both of them. "I want you to hand over the shards of the Master Emerald you have."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me; not now!" Knuckles snapped. "I know you have at least one somewhere."

"Typical Knuckles," Sonic rolled his eyes. "Stubborn as an armadillo."

"Knuckles, honestly," Tails shrugged apologetically, "We don't have any shards of any emeralds. We didn't even know the Master Emerald was shattered!"

"Oh, really?" Knuckles growled, leering over Tails menacingly. "Then how do you explain THIS?!" He whipped out the egg, holding it in Tails' face.

"Wait...what do you want with the egg?" Tails asked, genuinely puzzled now.

"This egg is said to hold the Prince of the Sea inside: the Guardian of the Great Temple of the Emerald on Angel Island. Someone shattered the emerald and unleashed a watery creep, and he was carrying this."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Wait a minute...Chaos came from the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles had heard enough. "Okay, my mouth's tired. I guess if you won't listen, I'll talk in a language we can ALL understand!" With that, he lashed out at Sonic, slamming him into the ground with his powerful fist.

"Hey! What gives?!" Tails snapped, rushing at him. Knuckles, now in fight-mode, lashed out at him, slamming his fist into his head and knocking him out. An emerald fell off of him.

"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed, watching his best friend fall in horror. It immediately turned to rage as he glared back at Knuckles. "Here, lemme help ya out with that temper of yours!" With that, he curled into a ball and shot forward, slamming into the red echidna and knocking him to the ground. Knuckles leapt back up and punched at Sonic, but the blue blur dodged and jumped at him, stepping on his head and roundhouse kicking him. Knuckles fell facedown, grunting. "What's the matter, Knucklehead? Losing your touch?"

"You blasted hedgehog!" Knuckles roared, leaping up and punching at Sonic. Sonic dodged, but Knuckles predicted this and faked him out, effectively connecting a direct hit with his stomach. Because the blue hedgehog had just eaten, that was more than he could take, and he faltered while the red echidna uppercutted him into the air, and Sonic fell flat on his face, groaning. "Gotcha now, you little twit. Now you start talking, or I'll pick up where we left off when we first met. Got it?" Neither of them noticed an emerald rolling away.

"I...don't know...what you're talking about," Sonic groaned.

"Well, then," Knuckles groaned, "I guess that's too bad." With that, he raised his fist to finish him off, but a sudden weight slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. "Whathe–?!"

"Get away from him!"

"_Feesh!_"

"Uhh...what?" he groaned, standing up. A small, crab-like creature was standing in front of him, as was a certain raven-haired teen with a red cap.

"You heard me loud and clear, ya creep!" Ash snapped. "Back off, or you'll get another crabhammer!"

"Oh, really?" Knuckles smirked. "That's amusing, you know that? A skinny kid thinks he can beat me. Ha! We'll see about that." With that, he punched at Ash's Pokemon, Corphish, but the crab Pokemon dodged.

"Now, use Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded. Corphish obeyed, unleashing a stream of rainbow bubbles from his claws. The attack hit dead-on, knocking Knuckles to the ground. He leapt back up and punched Corphish, but not enough to knock it out. Corphish fell on its rear, struggling to get up while Knuckles leapt up to punch at it again.

A sudden gust of wind blew him off course, and the only thing he ended up punching was solid ground. "Guh! The wind –!"

"That's _Silver_ Wind to you!"

Ash looked at his friend, grinning. "Nice one with the Assist, May."

"It brings back memories," she winked. He chuckled. "Now, Skitty! Use Doubleslap!"

"_Nyaaaanyanyanyanyanyanya_!" The cute Pokemon slapped Knuckles multiple times with its tail, effectively ticking him off.

"Doggone it!" he snapped. "Cut it out, will ya?!"

"Hey, we weren't the ones who started it!" Ash snapped. "But we _are_ going to finish it!"

Max and Brock watched from the sidelines. Brock grinned. "Aren't you going to help?" Max looked at him, puzzled.

"Nah," Brock shook his head. "They make such a good team when they work together; I don't think there's any challenge they can't overcome."

Max couldn't help but snicker as he remembered the last time his sister and idol used Corphish and Skitty together in battle. The results were...interesting, to say the least.

"Okay, that's it!" Knuckles growled. "I'm done playing nice!" It was at that moment that the ground lurched once again, sending everyone, humans, Pokemon, and those in between, careening to the ground while waking Sonic and Tails. "Oof, what –?!"

"Well, well, well...it seems I've interrupted a friendly spar. Pity, but it makes no matter. You fools have done the dirty work for me by collecting the Chaos Emeralds, as well as the Prince of the Sea!"

Everyone looked and saw a familiar face floating towards them. "Eggman!" they all said in unison.

"Ho ho ho!" Eggman chortled. "It seems my reputation precedes me. But I didn't come here to make a show. I came for business, so I'll just take these precious stones for myself, thank you very much!" With that, two lanky, metal arms snatched the Chaos Emeralds from where they'd fallen.

"No!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Not again!" Tails cried.

"Oh, Chaaaaaaaosssssss," Eggman called, "It's feeding time!" With that, he dropped the emeralds, and they were caught by two liquid arms, a subsequent glow emitting from beneath him. When the glow faded, a powerful, liquid creature leered down at everyone on the ground, green eyes filled with rage.

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash suddenly yelled. His best Pokemon obliged, and an electric shock shot for Chaos, but the aquatic creature held up his hand, a bony structure inside surrounding a Chaos Emerald, and deflected the shock back at them. "Gah! Look out!" The electric shock didn't connect with anyone, but it was clear that they were in trouble.

"The last time you pulled that trick on us, we weren't expecting it," Eggman sneered. "But Chaos is easily immune to your pathetic attacks. I'll let you spend some quality time with him."

"No!" Knuckles cried, lashing out at Chaos. This time, instead of going right through him, he was thrown back violently.

"Knuckles!" Sonic cried, rushing over to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Knuckles nodded, getting to his face. "But this just got personal."

"Chaos! Get them!"

Chaos lashed out against Sonic and Knuckles. They were too worn to move, so the blast would soon connect.

"Swellow! Use Double-Edge!"

A bird jumped out of seemingly nowhere and rammed into Chaos, slamming him back. Eggman cursed quietly and ordered Chaos to attack again, but met the same result.

"Whew!" Sonic wiped his forehead. "I guess we owe you one, Ash."

"Save it for later," he smirked.

"Okay, now you've done it," Eggman growled. "Chaos! Get him!" Chaos obeyed and snatched Ash up in its liquid arm, crushing him with his bone.

"Augh!" Ash cried.

"_Pikapi_!" Pikachu cried.

"Beautifly! Use Stun Spore!"

A yellow powder flew towards Chaos, blinding him and forcing him to let go of Ash. "Oof! Ow…"

"Are you okay, Ash?" May rushed over to him.

Ash grunted and stood up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for your help." She just winked at him; he blushed slightly.

"You insolent pest!" Eggman snarled. "Okay, that does it! Chaos! Get her!" Chaos obeyed, but Ash didn't let that go unnoticed. He grabbed onto Chaos' arm and pulled at it, though to no avail. Just when it seemed like he was getting nowhere, they suddenly started falling, the liquid arm cut from its source. "What?!"

"Ouch!" Ash groaned, helping May to her feet. "Not again."

"What happened?" May wondered. They looked up, and their eyes widened.

"Max?!"

"You don't play frisbee for seven years and not pull off tricks like that," May's brother smirked. Ash and May laughed.

"Impressive, you little twit," Eggman sneered. "But I think our little game is over." He suddenly held up –

"The egg!" Tails cried.

"Oh no!" Sonic exclaimed.

"He must have taken it while we were distracted!" Brock exclaimed.

"Get back here with that, ya creep!" Knuckles shouted, leaping up and punching his floating pod. He scored a direct hit.

"GUH!" Eggman grunted, and his hand let go of the egg.

"NO!" Tails cried, running for it but tripping over his tails. May, seeing no one else close enough to break its fall, rushed towards it and dove to catch it, closing her eyes and fearing the worst. But when she opened them again, the egg was safe in her hands, unharmed. She exhaled, relieved.

That was when the yolk of the egg began glowing brightly, nearly blinding her. Everyone gasped as they watched the glow slowly turn from red to white, enveloping the whole stone while May stood up, still holding it in her palms. As she did so, she heard a voice echo in her head:

_Take care of him. He's the only one who can stop the chaos._

Finally, the glow faded, and May looked curiously at what had been the Prince of the Sea's egg, smiling slightly.

"_Weh-weh...WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_" the tiny blue creature suddenly cried. May cradled it and began to rock it.

"There, there," she whispered soothingly. "It's okay. I've got you."

Everyone stared in amazement. Sonic smirked slightly, although the crying slightly annoyed him. Tails couldn't help but smile, remembering his own mother. Knuckles looked grim. Max couldn't help but remember his own mother; he saw so much of her in his big sister. Chaos had a blank expression on his face, while Eggman groaned dreadfully, covering his ears to drown out the crying.

Out of all of them, perhaps the most amazed was Ash. He had been travelling with May for a long time now, and he'd always known she was different from his old friend, Misty. Misty was headstrong, and she always spoke from the heart, whether it was from anger or sentiment. They bickered a lot when they traveled together, their arguments usually ending with either Brock mediating their fights or Ash getting slammed over the head with a mallet. Despite this, overall he considered her one of his best friends. When he began travelling with May, the tables turned in a sense. Unlike Misty, he found it very easy to get along with May more than half the time. He could only remember one fight they'd had that was on the same scale as his fights with Misty. The results were...interesting, to say the least. Even then, however, rather than forgetting about it and moving on, they apologized to one another and made up. Granted, they spent a whole episode doing that, but he could confidently say that that episode was not wasted.

Now, however, as he watched her care for the newly hatched Prince, he finally realized what set May apart from Misty. Not that Misty had never been in a situation like this, but the way May went about it was...different somehow. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was there. He could feel it, and now, more than ever, he wanted to know. He clutched his heart, wondering why it was suddenly beating faster than normal.

"Ugh!" Eggman snapped, finally losing it. His sudden outburst brought Ash back to reality. "I'm not going to capture some worthless pipsqueak that won't stop crying to further my plans! I'll come back when it's calmed down a bit! Chaos! Let's go, now!" Chaos looked towards Eggman and obliged, but not before throwing one more unreadable glance at the newly hatched creature. The two villains quickly disappeared.

Finally, the small creature stopped crying, and May held it close. It seemed to be sleeping.

"Wow," Max breathed, looking at it.

"What is it?" Brock wondered as he looked over May's shoulder.

"Is it a Pokemon?" Ash wondered. Max whipped out a small encyclopedia and began to frantically flip through it.

"Here it is!" he exclaimed quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping creature. "'The Prince of the Sea,'" he read. "'Manaphy.'"

"Manaphy?" May wondered, looking at the sleeping Pokemon now known as Manaphy.

"Wow," Ash smiled.

"I don't think we should be too surprised," Brock shrugged.

"All right, that's enough." The four of them turned towards Knuckles and Sonic, who stood beside them. "It seems you guys are friends of Sonic. Well, any friend of Sonic is a friend of mine. Well...acquaintance, at least. In any case, I apologize about earlier. It seems I tricked myself...again."

"Gullible's written on his brain," Sonic winked.

Knuckles looked at him, puzzled. "It is?" Everyone sweatdropped. "Well, in any case, I need to take the Prince with me. He's the only way to stop Chaos."

May looked at the sleeping Pokemon, somewhat sadly, and handed him to Knuckles. As if on cue, when her hands ceased to make contact with his body, Manaphy began wailing again, just as much as before.

"Aw, nice going, Knuckles!" Sonic snapped. "You made the poor little guy sad!"

"What! What did I do?!"

"Now hold on a minute," Brock stopped them. "I've read that when a newborn Pokemon hatches, it regards the first creature it sees as its mother. Given that a newborn shouldn't separate from its mother until such a time as it can sustain itself, it will cry if it leaves its mother until then."

Knuckles and Sonic looked down at Manaphy, frowning, and Knuckles huffed angrily. "Then he'll just have to deal with it."

"Hey!" Ash snapped. "What kind of psycho treatment is that?!" Everyone looked at him in surprise. He was slightly surprised himself, but he regained his composure and started again, "I mean, uh...I think Manaphy should stay with May. At least...if you want it to stop that annoying crying."

Knuckles groaned and handed the crying Pokemon back. "Fine. She can take care of him." May took Manaphy in her arms and cradled him. As if on cue, Manaphy fell right back to sleep. "You've got to be kidding…" Knuckles fell over.

"Ahem!" Brock started. "Why don't we head back to the camp?"

Everyone nodded, including Knuckles, and started back. As they went along, May continued to rock Manaphy in her arms, singing a lullaby her mom used to sing for her. Knuckles looked uneasy at this, but he shrugged it off and went with the flow.

Better quiet than noisy, right?

* * *

**Couldn't have said it better myself, Knuckles.**

**"Is there going to be Advanceshipping?" That's what someone asked, and I think I inadvertently gave a hint in this chapter...as if my other stories didn't make it obvious. :P In any case, the answer is yes (as if a 9th movie fic would hand us anything less), although it's minimal in this story. Reason being: unlike some people I know (cough cough...Pokemon anime creators...cough cough), I try to maintain continuity and logic WHILE providing excellent entertainment. So there!  
**

**Well, that was one of the longest battle sequences I've ever written. What did ya think? Lemme know, but be nice about it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, I'm getting to the point in this story where I have to work out some nitty-gritty details, which, if you've read my previous fics, you know I don't consider myself good at. After writing this, however, I'm starting to think that's usually where my writing shines brighter than normal.  
**

**Well, enough of that. Let's get on with it...**

* * *

Chapter 6: A Cruel Teaser

That night, they sat around a small campfire, taking in Brock's delicious cooking. May cradled the sleeping Manaphy in her arms. "Wow," Knuckles smiled for the first time since that afternoon, "this is really good!"

"No kidding!" Sonic smirked. "Sure beats eating three meals consisting of nothing but wild berries."

Knuckles frowned slightly at that. "Yeah. Still and all, nothing beats the food we have back home."

Brock looked up from his cooking at this. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you guys from?"

"Brock, give it a rest," Ash scolded his friend. "They don't have to tell us."

"Thank you, Ash," Knuckles muttered, half-sarcastic.

"All I want to know is what region they come from," Brock explained. "I've never met Pokemon like these before: completely unique, and they can talk, too."

"I agree with Brock," Max nodded. "Wherever they're from, it must be a secluded region if no one knows about it."

"Hey, since when are we experiments?!" Tails snapped abruptly.

Brock and Max were taken aback. "I'm sorry, I was just curious," Brock apologized.

"Sheesh, ya don't have to be so quick-tempered about it," Max backed off.

"Max!" May scolded him, speaking up for the first time since they'd sat down. "Show a little respect!"

"Should I just pretend to be a mirror and reflect what you say back at you?" he snapped. "Show _me_ some respect!"

"That's not the point," she retorted. "I know you'd treat any Pokemon with respect; I've seen it. Don't pretend that because these Pokemon are any different that you can treat them likewise!"

"You wanna see some respect? I'll show you –"

"SHUT UP, YOU TWO!"

The sudden outburst shocked everyone and woke up Manaphy. May gasped when she saw the little blue Pokemon's eyes bud with tears, but they subsided when Manaphy saw his "mother" holding him.

Ash facepalmed. "I'm sorry, May. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen, and I made it happen anyways."

"Jeez, what a moron," Knuckles chuckled.

"Just shut up, Ash," she glared softly at him, and he looked down while she looked at Manaphy.

"_Mana_?"

She smiled and cuddled him. "It's okay. I'm right here. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

"_Phy_?"

"Aw, did the big, bad Ash Ketchum scare you? Aw…"

"What?!" Ash snapped. Everyone else chuckled.

"He's a big, bad boy, isn't he?"

"Oh, come on! It was an accident!"

"Shh…" she hissed at him. "You'll scare the kids." She giggled and pinched his cheek while he just sat there with an annoyed look on his face.

"This is embarrassing," he pouted.

May looked down at Manaphy, smiling. Manaphy returned the smile as they cuddled again. "There. Are you happy now?"

"_Happy_!"

May glared at Max. "Zip it."

Max looked confused. "What? What'd I do?"

"I heard you loud and clear."

"I didn't say anything!"

"_Happy_!"

May looked confused. "Huh? Hm...Ash, was that you?"

"Do you really think I could make that sound even if I tried?" he muttered, still pouting.

"_Happy_!"

May scratched her head, now genuinely confused. "Then who said that?" She felt a tug on her face, so she looked down at the little Pokemon.

"_Happy_!"

She gasped. "_Manaphy?_"

"Huh?" everyone turned and saw her staring down in amazement at the Prince of the Sea.

"_Happy_!" it said again.

"It's...it's talking?!" Ash exclaimed, forgetting all about his embarrassment.

"How can that be?" Brock wondered.

Max was furiously flipping through his small encyclopedia to find the page with Manaphy on it. "Turns out Manaphy's a fast learner, and, with minimal exposure, can speak like humans."

"Really?" Ash's eyes widened in amazement, leaning over Manaphy. "That's awesome! Hey, Manaphy! Say 'Ash!' Say 'Ash!'"

"_Weh-weh_," Manaphy started to whimper.

"Cut it out!" May snapped, pushing him away. "He doesn't like you!"

Ash's face flared in warmth. "What did I do?"

"You screamed."

Ash clutched the sides of his head. "If you keep on teasing me like this, I'll scream again!"

Everyone laughed hard at that one. "Give it up, Baseball Head," Sonic chuckled. "She's not gonna let up on you."

"You know you're gonna eat those words," Tails reminded him. Sonic's smile fell off his face.

"Don't remind me."

Knuckles stood up, yawning. "Well, I think I'll go to sleep. I've got work to do tomorrow."

"Work?" Brock asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. It's a long story, but to be frank, I guess I have some jewelry to find."

"Jewelry?!" Max looked like at him as though we were a shiny Pokemon. "But you're a boy!"

Knuckles was confused. "What's that supposed to –"

"Never mind," Sonic laughed. "Let's just go. Good night, everyone."

* * *

An hour had passed, and mostly everyone had gone to bed. Ash had volunteered to stay up to tend the fire for a bit while everyone else fell asleep. Pikachu was sleeping next to him. He was glad everyone else was asleep. The evening had gone sour for him when May started irritating him with her jokes. Everyone else thought it was funny, but he felt extremely uncomfortable with it.

_They don't get it_ he thought angrily. _They just don't get it. I don't do well with that kind of stuff. Show a little respect, will ya?!_ He paused a moment, collecting his thoughts as he poked at the fire. _Well, I guess I can't blame Sonic and the others. They don't know that. But May? She knows I don't like being teased like that!...Well, not in front of others, that is. Ugh! I'll pay her back later. And seriously, why the heck is Manaphy scared of me?!_

A sudden rustling from behind him shook him from his thoughts. He glanced back and was surprised to see May emerge from the bushes, the sleeping Manaphy in her arms. She was all smiles as she looked at the newborn Pokemon, rocking him gently. She looked up and saw Ash glaring at her, then looking away with an angry huff.

"What's your problem?" she asked, curious.

"I thought you were asleep," he grumbled.

"I couldn't go to sleep," she explained, laying Manaphy down next to Pikachu. "I had to put Manaphy to sleep first."

"Why?"

She looked incredulous. "Because that's what mothers do, Ash!"

"Oh, sure," he rolled his eyes. "That's a great excuse. Well, he's asleep now, so get in bed."

"Excuse me?" she snapped, hands on her hips. "Are you my father?"

"No."

"Are you my babysitter?"

"No."

"Then shut up! I can take care of myself, thank you very much! I don't need you playing parent with me."

"Ha!"

She glared at him. "What was that supposed to mean?"

"If you're so independent, if you can take care of yourself just fine without me, then why the heck did you want to come with me on my Hoenn journey in the first place?! Why would your dad make me promise to take care of you in the first place?!"

She balled her fists at her sides, anger surging through her veins. "Because that's what dads do, you dolt!" she ground her teeth. "Of course he would do that! I'm his daughter! It's his job to protect me, so it's only natural that when I'm away from home he would ask someone else to fill that role until I return!"

"Fair enough," he growled. "So why did you decide to go with me? Why didn't you go with Brendan a year earlier, huh? After all, you've known him a lot longer than you've known me."

"He's not the same guy I knew when we were children. He changed, and I didn't want to endure that in my travels."

Ash chuckled mockingly to himself. "So that's why you came with me. It was about you, was it? It wasn't anything I did, hm?"

"Ash, do you even hear yourself?!" May exclaimed, her anger boiling. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing," he snapped abruptly. "I'm fine."

"Well, you're not acting like it."

"That's because you're pushing my buttons!"

"Oh, give it a rest! What did I do that made you so angry?"

"You were teasing me earlier, and I didn't like it!"

May's jaw fell slack at that. "Are you joking me, Ash?! Is _that_ what this is about?!"

"Just leave me alone," he tried to end the conversation.

"No! Seriously, if that's what this is all about, then –"

"May, that's enough."

"Why would teasing you about that kind of stuff – what are you so – I don't –"

"I SAID ENOUGH!"

He was leering over her now, anger boiling in his eyes. His outburst shocked her and woke Manaphy and Pikachu. Manaphy began to cry, while May felt tears bud in her eyes as she turned to console the crying Pokemon. "I'm sorry, Manaphy," she whispered. "It's okay. I'm here now."

"_Happy_," Manaphy sniffed, wiping its tears away.

She smiled weakly at him, holding him tightly. "Me too, Manaphy." She looked up at Ash, glaring softly, before turning away. "Come on," she said softly, though her voice was laced with a hint of disgust. "Let's go sleep in our tent." She walked over and laid Manaphy down inside, but before she crawled in she glared back at Ash.

"You know," she growled, "one of these days, you may not mind that so much." With that, she was gone.

Ash stared into the fire, still frowning, though it was softer now. "Sorry I woke you, Pikachu," he whispered.

"_Pika_?" Pikachu asked, curious.

"I don't know what happened back there," he sighed, resting his arms on his knees. "Something about those jokes May made just...irked me." He stared into the fire, his expression turning somewhat sad. "I probably hurt her...and Manaphy. Aw, man...now what'll I do? I guess I'll just tell her I'm sorry tomorrow."

He shrugged as he tended the fire, now slowly waning, and soon he and Pikachu were off to bed themselves, unaware of a pair of violet eyes watching them. They had seen the whole thing.

* * *

**The only idea I had for this chapter was everyone sitting around a campfire and Manaphy speaking English. ****I honestly don't know where half of this chapter came from: it didn't come from the game, it didn't come from the movie, and it sure as heck didn't come from Advanceshipping!**  


******What do you think? Most of this chapter was unplanned, so it kinda stands out to me a little.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Relations of a Prince

"Ahh," Sonic stretched, basking in the morning sunlight. "Another perfect beginning to another perfect day." He looked around and was slightly disappointed. "Huh. Nobody's up. Oh, well. I guess I'll just hang out for now." He walked over to the small lake and tried skipping a rock, but he failed miserably as the plump rock sunk into the water. "I swear, the people who do that cheat in some way or another."

"_Pikachu?_"

Sonic looked to his side to see the adorable yellow Pokemon standing beside him. "Hey, Pikachu! You're up, too?"

"_Pika!_"

"Well, that's nice." He chuckled. "Baseball Head's a hard sleeper?"

"_Pikachu_," he nodded.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sonic smiled, chucking another rock only to meet the same result as before, while Pikachu scampered away. "Ugh. Either I'm doing something wrong or it's impossible to skip rocks without cheating." Resigned, he laid down and put his hands behind his head. "I'd go running, but if someone found me, it could be disastrous for all of us. Baseball Head and the gang are all right, but if the rest of this world figured us out, things could go terribly wrong, especially now that we've found other creatures similar to ourselves; they might think we're just more of them." He shuddered softly. "We need to get back home before this gets out of hand."

His ramblings were cut short by a sudden splash from the middle of the small lake, as a familiar red head popped out of the water, gasping for air. "Knuckles?"

The red echidna swam back to shore, carrying something heavy. "Oof," he muttered. "Glad I got that one back."

"What are you up to now, knucklehead?" Sonic stood up and walked over to him, smirking.

"I found a shard of the Master Emerald down in that lake this morning and went to get it," Knuckles explained. "Carrying a heavy shard to the surface is easier said than done, but even then, saying it still sounds hard!" Sonic rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Well, it doesn't matter now. It's here, and I'm one step closer to restoring the Master Emerald."

Sonic eyed the shard curiously. "Exactly what happened to it?"

"Eggman's robot attacked and shattered it. When it did, Chaos appeared, along with that egg Tails had."

Sonic's eyes widened. "The Prince of the Sea?!"

"Yes. It seemed that Chaos wanted to do something with him. Whatever happens, we need to protect him from Eggman."

Sonic nodded. "We'll do that. But that raises another question."

"What's that?"

"The locals called that guy a Pokemon, which is clearly from this world. Yet it was sealed away in the Master Emerald, which was from our world. How can that be?"

Knuckles put a fist to his chin, pondering. "That's definitely a stopper. But I think I have an explanation for that...or something like one."

"Shoot."

"Well, you see, Chaos wasn't always the way he is now. He was once a regular Chao, as small and childlike as can be. But when he was exposed to the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, he mutated into the creature we find ourselves up against now."

"Okay, that makes sense, but that doesn't explain the Prince."

"Yes, it does." Sonic was puzzled. "You see, Chaos wasn't the only one who underwent mutation."

Sonic's eyes widened. "You mean –"

"That's right," Knuckles nodded. "The Prince of the Sea is another mutated Chao, much like Chaos."

Sonic put a hand to his chin, pondering. "Well, that doesn't exactly explain how they were both sealed away in the Master Emerald, but it does explain, if only a little, why Eggman has his eyes on the lil' guy."

"It's a start," Knuckles agreed, picking up the shard. "But it's insufficient, and I don't have time to wonder about it. There are still many pieces of the Master Emerald I need to find."

"How's Angel Island, by the way?"

Knuckles sighed. "It fell while it was floating over the sea."

Sonic gasped. "Oh no!"

"It's fine, Sonic," Knuckles assured him. "We got really lucky: it fell onto a small island and is situated just right. If it had floated a millimeter more before falling, it would have sunk into the sea."

"Hmph," Sonic muttered. "And they call it an island."

"Only because it floats through the sky," Knuckles explained. "If it were to fall into the sea, it would sink. I need to find the rest of the emerald shards, restore the Emerald, and then steer it back to dry land so as to ensure its safety."

Sonic nodded. "Then we'll help you however we can."

"That won't be necessary. I can gather the rest of the shards myself."

"Suit yourself," Sonic shrugged. With that, the echidna walked away, dragging the shard behind him. The blue blur shrugged and followed him back to camp.

* * *

Pikachu laid himself down, stuffed as always when he'd eaten breakfast. It would be a good few minutes before he felt like moving around again.

"_Phy?_"

He looked up, surprised to see Manaphy standing over him. "_Pi?_"

"_Mana Mana Phy!_" Manaphy smiled.

"_Pika,_" Pikachu sighed, laying down.

"_Phy?_" Manaphy pleaded.

Pikachu looked up again and smiled. "_Pi Pikachu?_"

"_Mana Phy!_"

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "_Pika Pikachu, Pi._"

Manaphy looked sad. "_Mama._"

Pikachu was puzzled. "_Pi?_"

"_Mana, Mana Phy, Mama, Mana, Happy!_" Manaphy explained.

Pikachu nodded. "_Pika, Pikachu, Pikapi. Pi Pikachu._"

"_Phy?_"

"_Pika._"

"Manaphy!"

"_Mama!_" the little blue Pokemon exclaimed, jumping into her arms.

"There you are," May smiled. "I was looking all over for you." Her face fell again as she sat on a rock.

"_Mama?_" Manaphy wondered. "_Mana! Happy!_"

She smiled weakly and unconvincingly. "I am, Manaphy. How could I not be? Being a mother is one of the happiest experiences of a woman's life!"

"_Phy,_" Manaphy sighed, downcast. Pikachu perked suddenly.

"_Pi Pikachu! Pika, Pikapi!_" he exclaimed.

"_Phy? Mana! Mana Phy! Happy!_" Manaphy exclaimed, jumping out of May's arms while he and Pikachu ran off towards the lake.

"Hey!" May giggled. "Where are you two going?"

"_Pika Pikachu!_" Pikachu called back without looking. May just chuckled, sliding down so she could lean against the rock she'd been sitting on.

"Well, at least he likes Pikachu."

May jumped and looked up. "Ash? Oh, jeez...don't scare me like that! I didn't even see you there."

"Sorry," the raven-haired teen shrugged, sitting on the rock above her. "I just got here. Heck, if I didn't know better, I'd say Pikachu had Manaphy run off with him because I was coming." He chuckled.

The air quickly became awkwardly silent as the two teens sat there, unsure of what to say. Ash put a hand behind his head while May nervously scratched her arm, shifting uncomfortably.

"Um...May?" Ash stuttered, looking away from her as he broke the silence, "Uh...about last night…"

She looked up at him, a sad look on her face. "Yeah...about that…"

"Sorry for being such a jerk," he sighed, sliding down to sit next to her and leaning his arms on his legs. "I don't know what came over me."

"I'm sorry, too," she replied. "I didn't mean to be mean by teasing you like that. I thought you wouldn't mind."

"I usually don't," he mused. "But last night I guess I decided I don't like it anymore. Don't ask me why, because I really don't understand it myself. In any case, you weren't being mean at all. Everything you said last night was something that had been said to me before, whether by you or by someone else."

She smiled, a bit more genuinely, though there was still some sadness in her smile. "I'll remember that."

He looked up at her, smiling slightly. "So are we good?"

She smiled and stood up, motioning for him to do so. "Yeah."

"Well that's good," he nodded, extending a hand for her to shake. She looked at it a moment, puzzled.

_Hm_ she thought. _Should I? We just made up, but...oh, heck. I'll just go for it._ With that, she grinned coyly at him as she pushed his hand to the side and wrapped her arms around him in a light hug.

"May –!?" he stuttered in shock, arms stiff at his sides. She quickly let go of him, blushing slightly.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "I don't know what came over me."

Ash raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "I'd rather you just shake my hand."

"I know," she nodded. "You know, one day you probably won't mind it so much."

"When?" he asked.

She just winked at him. "I guess we'll just have to find out."


	8. Chapter 8

**To begin, I hope I'm not uploading these at too slow a pace. If that's the case, it must be those nitty-gritty details I talked about in Chapter 6. Of course, if that's the case, then I've surprised myself once again.**

* * *

Chapter 8: His Name is Sonic!

Dr. Eggman sat at the helm of the Egg Carrier, his massive battleship, grinning as he watched his helpless prisoners drop in front of him. One of them was a pink, female hedgehog, wearing a red dress. The other was a small parrot Pokemon known as Chatot. A small pendant hung around its neck, a glowing gem embedded into it.

"Long time no see, Amy," Eggman sneered. "E-102 Gamma, you did well," he turned to his robot companion. "Leave these two to me."

"Yes, Doctor," the robot, E-102 Gamma, responded, turning and walking away. Eggman turned back to his frightened prisoners.

"Nice necklace you have there, little parrot," he snickered. "Mind if I have a look?" He reached for it.

"Back away!" Amy pushed him away. "Don't you dare touch him, or you're as good as dead!"

"_Awk! Good as dead!_" the Chatot squawked.

Eggman seized her arm violently, raising her up so she was at eye level with him. "Don't touch me again, young lady, or I'll make you regret it. Get the point?" he growled menacingly. When she didn't respond, he dropped her to the ground. "Chaos!" he barked. "Take them to the cells, and leave them with Gamma!" The liquid creature, who was becoming quite the monster with four Chaos Emeralds, obliged, mercilessly dragging them away.

"You won't get away with this!" Amy screamed. "Sonic will stop you!"

"_Awk! Stop you!_" the Chatot squawked.

Eggman just chuckled, sitting back at the helm. "Sonic won't stop me...not this time. Once I have that little bratty prince under my control, _nothing_ will be able to stop me. I'll level Saffron City to the ground, effectively shutting down this world's economic center. The fools of this world will have no choice but to turn to me to keep their economy alive.

"And the world will be mine! FWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"

* * *

Amy and Chatot were sitting in their cell, looking downcast and maybe slightly annoyed, when Gamma walked up, a soft, small cube in hand. "Feeding time," he stated simply, handing the cube to Chatot. "Eat up, pretty Polly," he said, forcibly stuffing the block into the reluctant Pokemon's beak. "Feeding time's over." With that, he turned away and sat down.

Chatot turned away and spat the block out of his mouth. "Ugh!" he growled. "I can't stand it. I just can't stand it! We're stuck in this dank, smelly cell, and there's no way out! Talk about one-star residence!"

"Awful, isn't it?" Amy sighed sadly. "Sonic's probably miles from here right now. We're on our own."

"Well, what're we gonna do?!" Chatot snapped. "That Egg-head's got us right where he wants us, and if he gives this emerald to that drip-head, there's no telling what'll happen!"

"Just hang on, Chatot," Amy assured him. "He's never won before; there's no reason he should start now."

"Actually, yeah, there is," the parrot Pokemon snapped. "That big hunk of water's gonna do some serious damage if he gets all the Chaos Emeralds!"

"That's why we need to hide yours," Amy said, taking the emerald from his pendant and replacing it with a fake.

"Yeah, good luck makin' that work!" Chatot rolled his eyes. "Where are you gonna hide the real one?"

Amy grinned as she opened a small hole in the wall. "With Sonic." With that, she dropped it, along with a small note, into the hole, where it fell through the ship and out into the open sky, unseen by anyone else on board. With luck, it was headed right to where it needed to go.

* * *

"Hey, Sonic!"

"Hm?" Sonic looked up and saw his best friend coming towards him. "What is it?"

"I've got an in-depth analysis on our current predicament with Eggman. Come and see!" Intrigued, Sonic followed Tails into his workshop, where Tails had a large chalkboard set up. "From our last encounter, I discerned that Chaos has absorbed four out of the seven Chaos Emeralds."

"We don't have any," Sonic muttered irritably. "If we don't find the other three soon, we'll be in trouble."

"I know Chaos grows progressively powerful with each Chaos Emerald he absorbs," Tails nodded. "But I still can't help but wonder what would happen if he absorbed all seven of them."

Sonic shuddered. "Somehow, I don't think it would involve him turning into a version of himself four times as big."

"Well, what are you thinking?"

"Well –"

A sudden clattering from outside interrupted their conversation. "What was that?" They walked out and looked wide-eyed at what they saw. Their new friends were busying themselves taking down their tent and packing up their stuff.

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Packing up and heading out," Max smirked. "What does it look like?"

"You're leaving?!" Tails wondered. "Wait, but what about –?!"

"Calm down, you guys," Ash put out his hands reassuringly. "We're not deserting you...not in the desert, that is." May groaned and rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Your friend the red Pokemon called us and asked us to meet him at Vermillion City," Brock explained. "He said it had something to do with Manaphy, that there was something Manaphy had to do."

"Oh," Sonic mused, scratching his chin. "Okay."

"If that's the case, then we'll come with you," Tails smiled.

Ash raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that a good idea? I mean, nobody else really knows about you, do they?"

"Relax," Sonic smirked. "We've been hiding from them for over a month now, Baseball Head. We can get to the port without being seen. Heck, you guys can go ahead. We'll catch up."

"Uhm…" Ash put a hand behind his neck. "Uh...okay, I guess…"

"Come on," May said somewhat hastily. "The sooner we get to Vermillion, the sooner Manaphy does his thing, right Manaphy?"

"_Mana!_"

"Well, uh...I'll see you around, Sonic," Ash shrugged, following his friends. Sonic watched them go, a small smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Ash," he said under his breath. "We'll catch up."

* * *

"I'm glad that's over."

The other three looked at May in surprise. They were in the Lavender Town Pokemon Center, where they would stay the night before going to Vermillion City the next day. "What do you mean?" Max asked.

"What do you mean what do I mean?" May replied, looking slightly irritable. "I'm just glad that all that's over."  
"Technically, it's not," Brock interjected. "We still need to take Manaphy to that red Pokemon at Vermillion."

"Fine," she snapped. "I'm glad that it's over for now."

"Why?" Max asked.

"I never trusted those creeps."

The boys were shocked. "Why not?" Max exclaimed. "May, they were friendly, open to conversation, just like you said when we first ran into them!"

"Yeah, but they were talking a lot about stuff I didn't understand. That red creep wanted to take Manaphy away from me!"

"Well, Manaphy is the Prince of the Sea," Brock shrugged. "You two will have to separate eventually."

May nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I don't want it to happen just yet."

"Fair enough, but that's no reason to distrust them."

"I could barely understand anything that blue creep was saying! It was almost like –"

"HIS NAME IS SONIC!"

May, Max, and Brock cringed in shock at this. They looked at the one who had screamed in astonishment.

"Ash…" Brock started to chide him.

"No!" Ash snapped vehemently. "This is something that needs to be said. You and Max keep calling him a blue Pokemon, and May's calling him a creep. Well, you know what? I won't sit around and let you treat him like that! His name is Sonic: Sonic the Hedgehog! I don't know what that means, and I don't know where these guys came from, but I do know this much: Sonic is my friend, and I've noticed we have a lot in common. He's a good guy, standing up to that Egghead the way he has been and getting rid of Team Rocket the way he did. I don't know much, but I know enough!"

"You don't mean to say you trust them, do you?" May exclaimed.

"Yes! Yes, I do!"

"_Pika!_"

"If these Pokemon turn out to be something other than what they're letting on to be, you'll regret that later," Brock informed him. "You don't know if –"

He never finished. Ash, fed up with hearing these ridiculous things about his new friend, hauled off and smashed him in the jaw. May and Max gasped in shock as Brock fell down, taken aback by his friend's sudden action. For a moment, there was silence, as everyone was still in shock. Then Ash, grunting in anger, stormed out of the room.

"Where are you going?!" May shouted after him. He didn't respond.

* * *

**Boy, Ash definitely surprised me here.**

**Also, for those of you who have seen the ninth Pokemon movie, you may recognize the Chatot from there, only it's slightly different here. That's my way of weaving a small critique of a movie into my story: namely, something they should've done that would have made the movie better.**

**But I digress. Feel free to rate and review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Battle on the Egg Carrier

"I wonder what Knuckles wants with the Prince," Tails wondered aloud. "And why is he our only hope of defeating Chaos?"

"I'm not sure," Sonic muttered, "but Knuckles did tell me that they're both Chao that mutated when they were exposed to Chaos energy. That may have something to do with it."

"Really? Hm...and they both were sealed away in the Master Emerald. But what do we know besides that?"

"Well, one of them's a creep, and the other one's a cutie," Sonic shrugged. They chuckled.

That was when a shadow overtook them, blotting out the sunlight. They looked up and gasped. "What is that?" Tails wondered.

"I don't know," Sonic mused, but his musings were cut short when a small gem fell in between them.

Tails gasped. "A Chaos Emerald!"

"And a note?" Sonic wondered, picking it up and reading it. He gasped. "Oh, no!"

"What?"

"Eggman captured Amy!"

They looked up, grim. "So that's Eggman's battleship, is it?" Tails muttered.

"We gotta get up there!" Sonic growled.

"Get the Chaos Emerald, and we'll use it to power up the Tornado!" Sonic nodded, and they set to work. Within five minutes, they were soaring to the sky. The battleship's exterior turrets detected this and began firing. Tails, being the expert pilot that he was, successfully evaded these and managed to get out from underneath the Egg Carrier, allowing him to ascend higher and find a landing point. There he let Sonic jump out and dash around in the hopes of finding Amy...and Eggman.

* * *

"Do ya think they got the memo?" Chatot asked Amy worriedly.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But we can't give up."

"Be quiet, you two," E-102 Gamma ordered. "My job is hard enough without you yabbering like that."

"_Awk! Yabbering like that!_"

"Why are you doing this?" Amy looked at him angrily.

"Doctor's orders. He told me to."

Amy looked intrigued. "Wait...are you saying that the only reason you're keeping us here is because Eggman told you to?"

"Yes."

Amy got an idea. "What if he wasn't your master, and you could do whatever you wanted?"

"_Awk! Whatever you wanted!_ Amy, what are you doing?" Chatot whispered.

"Trust me."

Gamma stood there a moment, pondering Amy's question. "I never did give that much thought," he admitted. "But it makes no matter. He is my master."

"He doesn't have to be."

Gamma was confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just because he told you that you have to be a bad robot, it doesn't mean you have to," she explained.

"_Awk! Doesn't mean you have to!_"

Gamma stood still, pondering seriously what she was saying. "But he told me I would be scrapped if I disobeyed."

"But you can always be rebuilt," Amy assured him. "I have a friend who is as good with robots as Eggman; he can put you back together if you were to be destroyed."

Gamma didn't move. "I guess that's all right. But why are you so insistent that I betray the Doctor?"

"Eggman doesn't care about you," she told him. "He's only interested in himself."

"_Awk! Himself!_"

"He just wants to take over the world. He doesn't care about you, or me, or anyone. Whatever he does, he does for himself. I don't know what's he's planning to do with Chaos and the emeralds, but I know it can't be good. People will get hurt if he gets all the emeralds. If he takes Chatot's emerald, then he'll only get closer to his goal. That's why you need to let us go."

"_Let us go! Awk! Let us go! Awk! Can't hold us back anymore! Awk!_"

Gamma stiffened. "So you're just trying to bargain with me to escape? Is that all you're trying to do?"

"No," Amy assured him. "While we do want to get out of here, it's not because this place stinks. It's because we want to help stop Eggman and Chaos, and you should, too, if you know what's good for the world."

Gamma relaxed and looked downcast. "I guess you're right," he said. When he said this, the bars holding Amy and Chatot disappeared. They were free! "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"If I get turned to scrap, your friend will rebuild me."

Amy nodded. "You got it. Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. Now, go. There's a storm coming."

"_Storm! Awk! Let the storm rage on! Awk! The cold never bothered me anyway!_"

"Bye!" she called back.

"Bye," he replied.

* * *

Eggman strolled into another room in which a small, translucent capsule stood, a small, white Pokemon with red and blue designs on it held captive. "All right, my pretty," he sneered. "Time to extract that little part of you that I require for my plans!"

"_Tic_," the small Pokemon whimpered in fear. Eggman yanked a lever, and electricity surged through the Pokemon's body, severely harming it, as it was a part-Flying-type. It cried out in agony, but still it would not yield that which Eggman wanted.

"You little twit!" he growled. "I will win this, whether you like it or not!"

* * *

"Smooth moves you got there, Miss Rose!" Chatot praised his friend as they ran through the corridors of the Egg Carrier.

"Thanks," she smiled. "It's always been one of my stronger traits. But now we have to get out of here!"

"Right!" Chatot nodded. "Awk! You shouldn't have said that! Now we don't know which way to go!" They were at a junction.

"Hm," Amy muttered. Chatot sniffed towards the left.

"This way!" he called, flying in the lead. Amy followed, and they soon came to another door. "Aha! Here we go!" he squawked happily, pecking the controls to death. The door shot open, but, to their dismay, they'd reached a dead-end. It appeared to be another cell, as someone sat huddled in the corner.

"Huh?" Amy muttered.

"Hm?" came a female voice. "Oh! What – who are you?!"

"It's okay," Amy put her arms out reassuringly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The girl didn't quite register what Amy was saying. "What do you want?!"

"Sh," Amy hissed. "We're kinda sorta running for our lives right now, so if you'd like to come along, be our guest."

"Running for your lives?"

"_Awk! Running for our lives!_"

The girl smiled. "I have quite the experience with that. Okay. Lead the way!"

"All right!" Amy cheered. They slipped out, shutting the door as they went so nobody would suspect anything. They ran back through the corridor and back to the junction.

"Okay, so we came from the right," Amy recapped. "So we either need to go forward or left." A sudden cry came from the corridor leading forward.

"Forward!" the girl exclaimed, rushing forward. "Hurry!"

"What? Hey, wait up!" Amy called. The girl suddenly tripped, causing Amy to stop.

"Well, that's what you get when you –" Chatot started, but he stopped himself, instead saying _Awk!_

"Are you all right?" Amy asked.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. I just tripped, that's all."

Amy nodded. "By the way, my name's Amy: Amy Rose. What about you?"

The girl smiled warmly, her green eyes shimmering. "My name's Misty."

* * *

"Okay, that does it," Eggman growled. "If you won't yield to electricity, THEN YOU WILL COWER BEFORE CHAOS! Chaos! Absorb the whole of this miserable Pokemon into your body. We'll simply make use of what we can!"

Chaos smashed the capsule to pieces, then seized the frightened Pokemon with an iron, water grip which slowly consumed it. As it did so, Chaos glowed and began to change again.

"No!" a female voice cried.

"Huh?!" Eggman started, whipping around. "GUH! Amy?! How in the heck –?!"

"I'd explain, but there's no time for that!" she snapped, whipping out her signature Piko Piko Hammer. Misty whipped out her own mallet, and they stood back to back.

"I guess you're right," Eggman smirked.

"What have you done to my Togetic?!" Misty snarled, rage written in her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry about your precious little pet," he sneered. "Chaos will take good care of her, won't you, Chaos?" Chaos said nothing, as the monstrous creature glared down at the girls, aquatic fists balled and eyes narrowed menacingly.

"I think we bit off more than we can chew," Amy shuddered.

"_Awk! We're dead!_"

"Not good," Misty trembled. "Not good at all!" Chaos raised his fist, prepared to crush them.

"HEY, DRIPPY! BAAAAAAACK OOOOOOOOOOFF!"

Everyone gasped and turned towards the source of the voice as it slammed into Chaos as a spinning ball of death. Chaos fell on top of Eggman, putting them both out of commission for a moment. Amy was elated. "Sonic!"

"Thank goodness you're all right, Amy," Sonic smiled. "Now let's hurry up and get out of here before they come to!" He grabbed Amy's hand (she blushed) and they started running away.

"Wait!"

They turned back and saw Misty running after them. "We can't leave Togetic!"

Sonic gripped his fists, and Amy looked worried. "Don't worry," Sonic assured her. "I'll save your friend. You guys gotta go!"

Misty started. _The way he speaks_ she thought. _He sounds just like_ –

"Go, now!" Sonic cried. Misty snapped out of her stupor, and she and Amy dashed away, while Sonic glared at Chaos, fists clenched. "All right, Dripster. Time to finish this!"

Chaos wasted no time, throwing a bony, aquatic fist at the blue blur. He dodged and attacked with a homing attack, striking Chaos in the stomach. The monster was unfazed and merely swatted him away with a limb. Sonic fell on his back and leapt back up, charging him with another homing attack, only to meet the same result. He ground his teeth and started running around, hoping to make the monster dizzy, but it was no use. Frustrated, he jumped up and performed a homing attack on the monster's head. This time, there was visible damage, as Chaos clutched his head in pain. Sonic noticed a small brain inside of it, and it was bouncing around.

"Bingo," he smirked, curling up again and zooming straight into the head. He scored a direct hit, and Chaos clutched his head once again, but it was only temporary, and he quickly slammed Sonic into the ground. Sonic stood up, clearly fazed, and Chaos lunged at him again. He dodged and attacked the head again, scoring another hit. While Chaos held his head, he forced himself to think out a plan. Chaos wouldn't be defeated by a series of concussions, that was obvious. He was too strong with the emeralds he had. He decided he would have to force the emeralds out of him, but how? He looked around frantically...and found his answer.

"Hey, Drippy!" he sneered, jumping over to the capsule Chaos broke earlier. "What's the matter? You going out of your head or something? Ha! You've got no chance to defeat me!"

It worked brilliantly. Chaos turned around, enraged, and lunged with all his might. Just as his fist was about to connect, Sonic whipped up one of the wires that had electrocuted Togetic earlier. Chaos's fist connected...and the electricity subsequently surged through his body. Sonic couldn't imagine how excruciating the pain must have been, but he shook the thought. He wasn't up for nightmares tonight.

Finally, the electricity became too much, and Chaos exploded into thousands of water drops. The Chaos Emeralds he had absorbed fell to the ground, along with the Togetic. Sonic sighed with relief, snatching up two of them along with the small, frightened Pokemon.

"Hang on," he told her. "I'll get you back to your friend."

"_Tic_," Togetic smiled weakly. He ran out of the room as the ship lurched. _What happened?_ he wondered briefly, but he shook it away as he rushed out to find Tails and Amy. They were still where Tails had landed earlier, along with Misty.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"There was a power failure below deck," Tails informed him. "Too much energy got sapped into something that exploded and rocked the ship."

_Whoops_ Sonic thought sheepishly. "All right. Let's get out of here and get to – hm, what was it? Oh, that's right – Vermillion City!"

"Vermillion City?" Misty wondered aloud. "Why there?"

"We're meeting up with some friends there," Tails explained.

"Yeah," Sonic smirked. "Ya think Baseball Head made it already?"

"Probably. He probably didn't run into Eggman." As they descended, there was general quiet, save the failing Egg Carrier above them. As they were nearing the surface of the water outside Vermillion City, Tails suddenly yelled, "All right. Hang on tight! This is gonna be rough!" The Tornado lurched suddenly as something moved.

"Whoa! What's this?!" Sonic shouted.

"Transformation!" Tails answered. They suddenly hit something and began bobbing around. Sonic gasped.

"We're on the water!" he exclaimed. After a moment, he looked out his window, then looked back at Tails, grinning.

"You never fail to surprise me, buddy."

* * *

**Once again, these ideas write themselves into existence. Starting next chapter, however, I'll be done with most of the nitty gritty details and getting to the concrete details I knew I'd use when I started this story.**


End file.
